Samo Salamon continues his exploration of the sonic potential of the electric guitar, coaxing a variety of sounds from his instrument in this live set with pianist Stefano Battaglia. Battaglia, better known for his ECM recordings, provides an excellent foil for Salamon’s playing. It is an interesting pairing, with Battaglia’s playing previously being in the more ‘classical’ vein of jazz piano (he has recorded a couple of volumes of Bill Evans pieces for ECM) and Salamon’s experimentalism. The opening piece, ‘Rain Forest’, begins with sounds that Battaglia must be producing by plucking and scraping the strings inside the piano and knocking the piano’s frame (although some of these must come from a glockenspiel as they have the clarity of struck metal). Against these sounds, Salamon produces heavily sustained notes until the piece develops with Battaglia’s gentle piano lines against scrabbled guitar tones. Through this and the second piece, ‘Hammer’, guitar and piano work through a wide repertoire of sounds and the players interchange roles leading and supporting each other. It is testament to the quality of the improvisation here that not a note feels superfluous or wasted, and both players push the pieces into marvellously textured spaces. As with his previous work, Salamon creates the space for his partner to work and the interplay brings out the strengths of both players.

The third piece, ‘Girl with a nicotine kiss’, is duet version of a tune from Salamon is taken from an earlier CD (Kei’s Secret), beginning with a poignant guitar solo and then developed on the piano. While the tune echoes the earlier recording, the solo version is quite a different experience and develops into a gently lilting ballad. At the end of this piece, the audience applauds which (apart from some coughing or sneezing at the very start of the set) is the first indication that this is a live recording. I guess the audience was captivated by this spell-binding playing here.

The next piece, ‘Betty O’, builds from the piano and guitar repeating simple lines against a pulsing single piano note. As the piece develops, it grows in complexity into something resembling modern chamber music played against a scampering, fuzz-drenched guitar. The set closes with the gentle ‘Sleepy burja’ and an appreciative burst of applause from the audience. For both artists this is an excellent showcase for their talents and presents a marvellous and captivating experience of a live session with two players absolutely in tune with each other.

Reviewed by Chris Baber

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